“President Biden announced on Wednesday that he has picked a long-time Indian Health Service employee to lead the agency, which serves over 2 million individuals across the country.”
“Biden will nominate Roselyn Tso, who is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, to be the Indian Health Service’s director. Tso began her career with the agency in 1984. IHS, housed within the Health and Human Services Department, provides federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives, populations that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Tso has worked in various capacities in the Portland Area IHS and at the agency’s headquarters. She now serves as the area director for the Navajo Area IHS, which ‘delivers health services to a user population of over 244,000 American Indians; the Navajo Nation is one of the largest Indian reservations in the United States consisting of more than 25,000 contiguous square miles and three satellite communities, and extends into portions of the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah,’ said a statement from the White House. ‘In her leadership position, she was responsible for the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act and worked directly with tribes and direct service tribes…'”
“Elizabeth Fowler, a member of the Comanche Nation with descendancy from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, has been serving as the acting leader of IHS since Biden came into office. She took over from Rear Adm. Michael Weahkee, who was confirmed in April 2020 and was the agency’s first permanent leader in five years…”
“The appropriations package for fiscal 2022 that lawmakers released early on Wednesday morning and the White House supported includes $6.6 billion for IHS, which is an increase of $395 million or about 6% above the fiscal 2021 enacted level…” Read the full article here.
Source: Biden Has Picked a Long-Time Indian Health Service Official to Lead the Agency – By Courtney Bublé, March 9, 2022. Government Executive.
